Original link: https://jubeny.com/2022/08/the-minimum-limit-usage/
In the Internet age, how to protect my privacy, how to say no to monopoly products, may be a bit too heavy for me who is not a geek who does not understand technology. However, there are still actions within my power to demonstrate my unyielding attitude.
A recent attempt has been to use the Tor Browser in limited circumstances. I admit that Tor is very difficult to use without a little patience, because it is so slow to access the Internet and often fails to open, such as Google search, Lianhe Zaobao, Douban and many other websites.
By the way, I think Douban lacks the spirit of the Internet. As a niche website driven by users, it closes the API, and opens the mobile web page with all the content that requires downloading the App to browse, and the above can not be accessed with Tor, etc. These may not be what its target users care about, but they are unbearable for me, so my choice is to log out.
There are also some websites that use Tor to access very fast, such as v2ex, Zhihu and even Weibo. Tor is not a tool that can protect your privacy once and for all, it just guarantees the anonymity of your Internet access to a large extent. You also need to be careful when using Tor, don’t log into your account when visiting a website, otherwise anonymity will be meaningless.
After using Tor, I logged out of reddit and switched to teddit to browse posts in specific sections. I no longer use Hupu to watch football news. On the one hand, the success rate of using Tor to access this site is very low. On the other hand, Liverpool’s consecutive defeats broke my heart and made me decide to stay away from football for a while. When I came back again, the previous habit was gone. I’ve also cut back on the time I spend on Twitter, using Nitter to track individual users’ tweets, although usage has been on the rise recently.
On the road to protecting privacy, a problem that must be faced is how to deal with various websites and mobile apps. My principle is to use it to a minimum. For example, what I said about Tor, use Tor as much as possible, and use regular browsers to a minimum, even Firefox full of plugins.
Since a few years ago, I have gradually cancelled the accounts of many domestic websites, such as Baidu, NetEase, Zhihu, Douban, etc. For a while, I didn’t even use Alipay, which had no impact on my life. As for the hottest Douyin right now, I had no desire to contact it from the very beginning. But there are also some websites and applications that have to be used, especially when it comes to finance and shopping, which are necessary for life after all.
In the past, when I bought few things, I would not download the shopping app, but just use the web page when I needed it. As web pages become increasingly difficult to use, or even without web pages, a little compromise has to be made. However, after downloading the app now, I will enable the elder version, which may not reduce the tracking of user data, but the page has become really concise, and I am even surprised by the conscience of these manufacturers.
As far as the existing apps on my mobile phone are concerned, the elder versions of Alipay, JD.com, Pinduoduo and Dianping are more sincere, but some of them just have larger characters, such as WeChat, China Merchants Bank, and other apps. There is no option for this. Originally, I would not keep JD.com, but its simplicity made me merciful, and the same is true for Dianping. I downloaded it only for dating.
Speaking of WeChat, it is a super app that kidnapped many people. Under its seemingly simple appearance, it is stuffed with too many things. What a clever and disgusting trick. Fortunately, the new job does not need to use WeChat, it has become a marginal role, and I no longer use WeChat other than video with my parents and chat with one or two people. This pig, which is crazy about eating mobile phone storage, currently only occupies more than 3G on my mobile phone.
People who love WeChat, in my opinion, lack a spirit of resistance and freedom. If you hand over your social, life and finances to a software, then what is the difference between being a slave? You are not the owner of WeChat, just a user, and the right to use can be deprived at will, there is a universal excuse in China – according to relevant laws.
People who worship Apple are the same in my opinion. Although this is a bit absolute, they are not people who really love freedom, but can exchange freedom for certain benefits. What a dangerous and stupid idea in my opinion to hand yourself over to a commercial company that will help you block all kinds of rogues and protect your privacy. Who can guarantee that Apple will not become a rogue, who can guarantee that Apple will not make deals with rogues? A very realistic example, is Apple willing to give up profits and reject the Chinese government? All I see is the obedience and ingratitude to the Chinese government. To make an inappropriate analogy, Apple may be like the United States now, but the United States can elect a president like Trump, and one day it may become the Soviet Union or the Third Reich.
Speaking of myself, as a person with very few friends, I naturally do not rely on WeChat. Now, I prefer to use Session to chat with friends, and the Telegram and Signal I used to use have left my phone. Telegram also works a little for me, getting airport and shared rental information, and the web version can do that, which is minimal use.
If not necessary, use open source software as much as possible, log out of social networking site accounts, give mobile apps the least permissions, get rid of the shackles of super apps, and don’t rely on one tool or one company, this is what I have done to protect my privacy. . Of course, there is also the point of clearing personal information from blogs.
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